Thai Style House Build in Ban Chang

I like and I spend a fair amount of time out and about on my 135cc motor scooter locally here in the Ban Chang/Sattahip/Rayong area. Last week while out and about riding, I spotted a new house being built about 250 meters back off the right side of road going from Sukhumvitt in Ban Chang toward Payoon Beach. It was obviously going to be a Thai style house and looked interesting so I road off road back to the construction site. As I approached I could see that it was in fact an unusual house. The pillars of the house were tree trunks. Here are 2 pictures of the house construction site from the Payoon Beach Road.The owner builder of the house was present and seemed to be supervising the work. He was able to speak passable English and we had a nice conversation about what it was he was building. This is what I could determine from the conversation. It was going to be a Thai style house all made of wood. It was going to have air conditioning and all the nice comfort features. The pylons/pillars were tree trunks of hard wood trees. The name of the hard wood trees escapes me now. Owner/builder said he was then going to build 2 or 3 more in Patters. Estimated cost for purchase according to the owner/builder… a whopping 20million baht. Personally I was shocked at the seemingly excessive cost. Although generally in a nice local, the immediate surrounding area and lots of land did not seem as if they would be accommodating 10, 15 or 20 million baht houses and in fact seemed as if it was more of a typical Thai income area. I’ll wait until it’s done to make final conclusions but at this point, seems way out of the ball park in cost. Anyway, here are some pictures of the house as it was in mid-September 2010.In the following 3 pictures you can not the elevated floors of the house so as to allow cement/tiled area under the floors of the house for a kitchen, rest area, general open area living space. In the second and third pictures down you can see the hard wood tree trunks being used as pillars and the bamboo being used on the ground where rebar or steel is normally used and where the cement flooring will be poured.

This shot shows what I was advised is the entry way into the grounds where one would proceed up some steps to the 1st floor large open aired veranda area. From the looks of the construction, the house will be “U” shaped with 3 separate building structures with the large open aired veranda in the middle. I’ll plan on another trip down to this construction site in a few weeks to see and photograph the progress. Until then, happy constructing!

I suppose the length of the tree-trunks dictated how tall that would be

Doc Andy, I thought the same and said so during my discussion with the owner/builder. He indicated that that area was to be used as a kitchen area, and general living area. I suspect that it will be cemented and then tiled along with a parking area. There was no mention of enclosing any of that area in and maybe it is difficult to tell from the angle of the pics but there is plenty of room under and I would say 2.5 meters after concrete layed. We shall see.

Very nice pics!
I don't think I could live with that kind of interior. Reminds me of those awful coffee tables made from knarly wood stumps.

Would not be my first (2nd or 3rd either) of what I would be looking for in a new house. I suspect it will be nice but like you, the wood stump furniture look is not something I would be spending money on....

Nice pics, the space under the house looks a little low though. Another few feet higher would have been ok.

No worries Mate, I just could never get comfortable in that style of furniture. I suppose it would be more than fine if outside on the patio or veranda. One good thing is that it seems to last forever. I'm thinking it would have to be coated every now and then and possibly treated for insects. Not sure about that though. I'm sure the furniture that the inlaws are having made for you will be top of the line though so no worries.....

Good views of the structure. Not sure of the raw trunks for the columns. A little oversized methinks. Wouldn't it be more economic to cut them up and create 2 maybe 3 columns from each trunk?

Interesting roof structure. Now I can see how they achieve the curved roof affect when using a timber structure.

Also the cantilevered floor supporting the external deck and lower level roof, maybe a bit bouncy.

The developer has a good supplier of timber somewhere.

Surely the bamboo rods in the floor slab will achieve nothing? Shouldn't the "steel" mesh be in the top of the floor slab to stop surface cracks appearing?

re "It would have been nice I think if our Thai wife's ancestors had done a bit of forward planning and planted tree's in this formation so that we could enjoy lovely natural Thai style houses today" The Fresh Prince

Good views of the structure. Not sure of the raw trunks for the columns. A little oversized methinks. Wouldn't it be more economic to cut them up and create 2 maybe 3 columns from each trunk?

Interesting roof structure. Now I can see how they achieve the curved roof affect when using a timber structure.

Also the cantilevered floor supporting the external deck and lower level roof, maybe a bit bouncy.

The developer has a good supplier of timber somewhere.

Surely the bamboo rods in the floor slab will achieve nothing? Shouldn't the "steel" mesh be in the top of the floor slab to stop surface cracks appearing?

re "It would have been nice I think if our Thai wife's ancestors had done a bit of forward planning and planted tree's in this formation so that we could enjoy lovely natural Thai style houses today" The Fresh Prince

Isn't there a government edict to plant the teak trees on a 4m grid?

I'm sure the sizae of the tree trunks are overkill but to cut them or split them would surely create a different effect and not one I'm sure the owner/builder is looking for.
Yes, my thoughts exactly about the floor supports and the bouncyness that will probably result. Not sure what they have in mind to deal with that... prob nothing.
Yes, bamboo in the floor where cement is going to be poured will in all probability have little value.
The tree support posts are not "teak" but of some other hard wood. Not Makha either but not sure what it is.
Can't answer some of the thoughts of the owner/builder. Lets see a few weeks down the road...

No follong you is ther JJ? Yea, a little to short in the height of the floor to ceiling distance on the ground level for me as well.

I was worried about a similar problem arising with the shed we're renovating/building.

I had to really push the fact that I wanted at least 3m from the finished floor to ceiling.

That meant the they had to dig out and not just lay the slab on the existing earth.

It'll be interesting to see if they enclose the down ground floor area and how.

Whilst those pillars are great they're taking up a hell of a lot of space. We put in 2 as a bit of a center piece/novelty and I'm not sure we were right to do so. I've still got 3 left to use and I've no idea where they're going to go.

Good views of the structure. Not sure of the raw trunks for the columns. A little oversized methinks. Wouldn't it be more economic to cut them up and create 2 maybe 3 columns from each trunk?

Interesting roof structure. Now I can see how they achieve the curved roof affect when using a timber structure.

Also the cantilevered floor supporting the external deck and lower level roof, maybe a bit bouncy.

The developer has a good supplier of timber somewhere.

Surely the bamboo rods in the floor slab will achieve nothing? Shouldn't the "steel" mesh be in the top of the floor slab to stop surface cracks appearing?

re "It would have been nice I think if our Thai wife's ancestors had done a bit of forward planning and planted tree's in this formation so that we could enjoy lovely natural Thai style houses today" The Fresh Prince

Isn't there a government edict to plant the teak trees on a 4m grid?

Regarding the steel mesh. I notice that it is laying on the surface. In Australia, we use a small steel "chair" at the steel intersections lifting it about 2 inches off the surface.